March for the Alternative - CUT WAR NOT WELFARE - CUT TRIDENT NOT SERVICES

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group is calling on as many people as possible to join the TUC's 'March for the Alternative' in London next Saturday (26 March 2011). The peace campaigners were in Yorkshire Street on Saturday (19 March 2011) calling for people to join demonstrations against the Government's plans to cut health, education and welfare and to demand that resources are transferred to these services from spending on the Trident nuclear weapons system, NATO's war in Afghanistan and public subsidies to the nuclear power industry.

On behalf of the Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said,

“We live in dangerous and difficult times. We cannot afford to take risks with our own or our children's futures. It is essential that we defend and revive our public services with decent levels of funding. As a country, we cannot afford to squander £billions on nuclear weapons we do not need or on NATO's disastrous war in Afghanistan. Nor can we afford to see our Government subsidising a nuclear power industry that can never guarantee the safety of its power stations or remove the incalculable and ever-present risks from the nuclear waste their power stations produce. In Rochdale, we need our hospital services restored and we need the Council to reverse the cuts it has been forced to make in essential local services. We, also, need to remember that there are alternatives to the policies being pursued by Cameron, Clegg and Miliband. We need to demand that our taxes are spent on what we need, not on threats to our future."

Saturday 5 March 2011 - a busy day's campaigning

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group took their 'Cut Trident, not services' message to the march against the cuts in Manchester, on Saturday 5 March 2011, but only after they had shown support for the morning's rally to oppose the EDL's visit to Rochdale. In Stoneyfield Park, they joined supporters of Unite Against Fascism in calling for the EDL to leave Rochdale, immediately. In Albert Square, they met with friends from Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to demand that the Government end all spending on nuclear weapons and stop cutting jobs, education and health services.

Philip Gilligan said,

"In the Peace Group we are committed to working for peace and justice in all communities and throughout the world. This means that we will always campaign to keep the divisive and abhorrent views of far right groups out of our local communities and will defend essential public services against the Government's vicious programme of cuts. We will also continue to remind politicians of all political parties that they would have no excuse for their attacks on our welfare state, if the Government would ensure that multinational companies pay the taxes they should and would stop wasting our country's scarce resources on nuclear weapons we do not need".

‘There is an alternative: Cut Trident not services’

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group were in Yorkshire Street again on Saturday (26 February 2010) calling for an end to the cuts which they say will seriously damage hospital and other public services in Rochdale. They invited people to sign the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s petition calling for the Government to immediately scrap the Trident nuclear weapons system and plans to upgrade it. They distributed leaflets condemning what they say is the Government’s £81billion assault on the welfare state.

Signing the petition, Ziyda Parveen said that the Government’s cuts have thrown her plans to become a nurse into serious doubt. She does not know how she will be able to go to university, if fees are doubled or even trebled, but she was very clear that the country needs nurses much more than it needs nuclear weapons.

On behalf of the Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said,

“During the past week, people throughout the borough have learned the terrifying timetable for cuts and closures at Rochdale Infirmary. Acute inpatient medical services will be lost at the end of March; acute inpatient gynaecology, general surgery and critical care will close at the end of May and, by the end of June, maternity inpatient services, the delivery unit, children’s inpatient services and cardiology will all be lost. In the same week, we have seen our Council forced by Government cuts to slash £64million from planned spending on essential services for the year ahead and learned that in the next few days they will begin planning another £80million worth of further cuts. Amongst the many other immediate reductions in services, the Council is expected to cut 750 jobs and will be making massive reductions in Adult Care and in services at Children’s Centres. Yet, at the same time, the Government with support from the Labour Party’s national leadership continues to squander £2.2 billion every year on the Trident nuclear weapons system and refuses to abandon plans to develop even deadlier nuclear weapons of mass destruction which it is estimated will cost another £97billion.

In thinking about these figures, we need to remember the very real impact that even the smallest cuts will have on individuals and the fact that a ‘billion’ is a thousand times more than a ‘million’. The amount the Government will waste on upgrading the Trident nuclear weapons system is likely to be 1,500 times greater than the amount it would cost to maintain Rochdale’s services without this year’s cuts.”

“There is an alternative to the cuts agenda. Today and everyday in Rochdale, we are saying that we want our taxes spent on decent public services, not on nuclear weapons. We shall be saying the same in London on Saturday 26 March and will continue to do so, until Cameron, Clegg and Miliband show us they have listened”, he added.

Rochdale Town Hall - 23 February 2011

Peace Group joins Rochdale lobby against the cuts

Peace Group joins 'Northern Towns Against the Cuts' Rally

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group ensured that Rochdale borough was well represented at the 'Northern Towns Against the Cuts' rally in the Piece Hall, Halifax on Saturday (12 February 2011). They joined trade unionists, students and other campaigners from towns across Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire in calling for the government to stop its cuts to public services. Speakers deplored the devastating cuts being made in adult social care and other services across the region and urged as many people as possible to join the TUC's 'March for the Alternative' in London on Saturday 26 March 2011.

Peace Group supporters, including Milly Carver and her mother Kirsty (pictured), distributed leaflets from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) calling for the government to 'Cut Trident, not jobs, education, health', while Philip Gilligan carried a model of a Trident missile bearing a price tag of £97billion (£97,000,000,000).

Philip Gilligan said,

"The coalition government seems intent on forcing local authorities to drastically reduce services for even the most vulnerable groups, but Cameron and Clegg never tell us the full story. They repeatedly claim that their devastating cuts are necessary to remove a deficit of £164billion. However, they fail to tell us that bringing an end to tax avoidance and evasion could bring-in an extra £123billion to the Exchequer every year. They, also, ignore the fact that an end to the disastrous war in Afghanistan, scrapping Trident and cancelling government plans to develop an ever more deadly nuclear missile system would save another £136billion.

Our country has no need to make cuts in essential services. There are very real alternatives to the government's unrelenting attack on our education, health and social services. The Peace Group was very pleased to support today's rally in Halifax as it was the Unison lobby at Rochdale Town Hall on Thursday night (10 February 2011). We will continue to remind all politicians that our country needs welfare, not war and that we want decent public services, not nuclear weapons. We look forward to doing so again when we join the many thousands of people marching for the alternative in London on Saturday 26 March."

Cut Trident - not jobs, health, education... Saturday 26 March 2011

Join CND's Cut Trident contingent on the TUC's March for the Alternative. As the government slashes vital public spending we want an end to waste on nuclear weapons and war. We want sustainable growth for Britain not money spent on Trident.

Scrapping nuclear weapons would save us over £100 billion! Instead, we could invest in the development of marine energy technology and other forms of sustainable energy, providing alternative employment for defence workers and creating tens of thousands of new jobs. It would help meet our carbon emission targets and help meet the TUC’s commitment to the creation of 1 million climate jobs.

Assemble 11am on Victoria Embankment, London to march to a rally in Hyde Park.